"" Writer's Wanderings: Books for the Road - Room

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Books for the Road - Room


Perseverance pays off in reading the novel Room by Emma Donoghue. Had it not been recommended by several people and on many other reading lists, I would have closed the book and deleted it from my Sony reader after the first dozen pages.

The story is told from a five year old’s viewpoint but this is not an ordinary child. Jack was born to a young woman who was held captive by her abductor for seven years. The boy has never seen the outside world except for his television set.

The reading is a bit rough going at the start but once you get into the cadence of his language and the realization that things in his world are viewed from a unique perspective, you begin to get into the story and become involved with the characters to the point that you cannot let go of the story.

The action in the story takes place midway which makes the rest of the book seem to be a long anti-climax but in the telling of the great escape and the aftermath, you begin to see how our world is skewed and perhaps a bit off-kilter when seen through the fresh eyes of Jack. And most of all you applaud Jack for his amazing resilience and his mother for her tenacity in raising him under the circumstances to be quite an intelligent and brave young man.

Unique and well-written, Room is a thought provoking but pleasant read.

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